Nottingham Forest fans need to be patient, says James Coppinger

JAMES Coppinger says Nottingham Forest need unity if they are to succeed in the Championship – and has appealed for fans to remain patient if they don't always play flowing, attacking football.

Sean O'Driscoll's side adopted a considered, defensive approach against a Hull City side that have torn apart many teams this season.

And, while they successfully limited the Tigers' attacking threat, it also caused frustration in the stands, where some fans were quick to voice their dissatisfaction in a game that ended in a 2-1 loss.

Coppinger admitted the negative atmosphere around the City Ground had influenced the players. But he also assured supporters the squad share their ambitions for the future – and appealed for them to remain positive.

"When I was playing for other sides, we used to say the same thing every time we came here. We knew that when you came to the City Ground, to a big atmosphere and a big stadium, you had to keep them quiet for ten or 20 minutes – then the fans would get frustrated," he said.

"Then, as an opposition side, you would exploit that, you would build on that frustration. That is what many teams do when they come here.

"Opposition sides bank up and make it hard for you to break them down. As players, it is so important for you to be mentally strong and tough. We cannot get influenced by the crowd.

"We understand their frustration, we do. But at the same time, we are trying to win matches. This is a club with a great history. Great players have been at this club. That is what we are trying to get back to.

"The manager and the players are trying to get the club back to where it has been. If the fans stick with the players, it will benefit the team."

Coppinger says Forest will have to put defence before attack against some sides in the Championship this season.

"As a player, you can't help but notice when the crowd gets frustrated. It is important to have strong characters and good mental strength to stick with your game plan," he said.

"We did that in the first half. It might not have been pretty or exciting, but we limited them to very few chances.

"They had very few chances, if any at all – and that is what we have to look at as players. We tried to limit their opportunities and we did that.

"The fans want to see great football, lots of goals and action – that is what they pay their money for. But we are trying to progress as a club and players and hopefully we can do that together.

"We have to accept what happened and move on, as a team. If everyone sticks together, this club can do really well."

Comments

WOW Mickey - you must enjoy your saturday afternoons mixing with other like minded forest fans???? where do you go? back room of your local boozer? and by the way im no fan of MA-im a forest fan and all i ask from anyone involved in the club is 100% effort and to be respectful to the brand 'NFFC' and all fans,other clubs etc. I dont think BD or MA (in the cases you mentioned) fall into this bracket - saying that a lot of fans dont either!

redone1 The two quotes were from thisisnottm (Birtles) and the rest from the official site. If Mr Clever Cloggs, you are saying these two produce 'Internet rubbish' I would go back to reading the Daily Star. The internet rubbish I was referring to, was the forums at the time that were full of rubbish about Billy Joining Celtic. What Davies said was that he would consider any job that was offered to him, if it came through the official channels.The same as O'Driscoll, Mourinho, O'Neil or anyone if they were being honest. What gets me about people like you redone, is that it is OK for someone like Arthur to use the fans by talking about more signings coming, or there is money available, or that old chestnut, 'we are serious about promotion' or even upsetting most of Wales with stupid talk of players wanting to sign for us' ie. to give the fans the idea that we were actually making offers for Pratley and Whittingham, when according to their clubs no such offers had been made. Do you 'detest' Arthur for these things? In what way did Billy use the fans as bargaining tool and to manipulate us to get his own way? bizarre! And what people was he 'constantly putting down'? some kind of internet link for that one would be nice. In what way did he 'try to ruin our club'? oh, you mean by deliberately losing the two play-off semis.What utter tripe!
Bomdia is a regular poster on this forum who has the similar opinion to yourself that Davies is the illegitimate grandson of Adolf Hitler. All things that are wrong with the club are the fault of Davies,(even what happened before he arrived, and even up to this day) and all things good are the fine work of Pleat, Marthur and the late owner. And that in no way are any of the above three responsible for the S&%$ that ticket paying fans have had to put up with for 13 odd years.

What would be really refreshing would be for SOD or a player to come out and say 'you know what? We got it wrong. We set the team out wrong in the first place and then too many of the players didn't perform well. Sorry, we will try to get it right in time for the next game'. They are happy to accept the accolades when everything is rosy, they should also accept a degree of criticism when they have an off day.

mickey - what are you on about? are you saying that Marthur and Pleat were good judges of character because they wanted BD out? and i cannot understand what would have made BD think anybody had the knives out for him? oh yeah - maybe the fact that he was constantly putting others down to deflect blame from some of his own errors?
and who or what is bomdia??
What village do you come from?
as i said previously the past is the past-look forward to the future and whatever you do dont ever leave that village without one!!

Also, forgot to mention that Nigel Doughty invested one and a half million in March 2011 on the new state-of-the-art training facility at the Nottingham Forest Academy. So were is Bomdia's logic re' Billy running down the Academy' bulls8888! This is a quote from the official site at the time 'Billy has been particularly supportive of the project and has played a hugely significant role in this first phase of the redevelopment work' (official site 31 March 2011).

redone1 How do you know he touted himself for other jobs? Internet rubbish, most of it.Like the Celtic 'job' was absolute rubbish. And if he did tout for other jobs, maybe he had an inkling that the knives (Marthur/Pleat) were out for him. There is no doubt that those two despised him, and wanted him out. And they eventually got their way when Villa wouldn't give McLaren their managers job. They convinced Doughty that now is the chance to sack him. They convinced him that although the fans will be up in arms at getting rid of the best manager Doughty ever employed, they can soften the blow if the fans think we have got someone, an ex England manager 'who can take this club to the next level'! The next few weeks would deliver us to were we are today. Doughty resigned as Chairman, sacking Pleat, but resisting the overwhelming calls from the fans for Arthur to go as well. two people he trusted, who had let the club down so badly. Realizing what a disastrous decision had been made, he then declared that the club would go up for sale. We all know the very sad, then very happy events that took place after that.
By all means 'detest' Billy, he was not perfect, and he could rub people up the wrong way. But Doughty, Marthur and Pleat were the people that employed him in the first place. If they didn't know his character, then they were buffoons! Everyone else in football did! And please don't hit me with the 'he ruined the academy' bull.He sacked Pemberton because the lads that were coming through were not up to it. We had spent 3 years in league one, and talented young kids didn't want to join such a lowly club. Don't take my word for it, Garry Birtles agreed. Maybe you have been reading too many of Bomdia's novels.

I think Forest fans have been patient, we've been waiting for 13 years so far for a Premier League return.
The fans pay their money and are quite entitled to show frustration when the players are not doing what they're paid for.
They are on good wages at Forest and if they can't hack it then they should go elsewhere !
There will always be pressure to succeed at Forest so its up to the players to deliver or find another club !

sneenyTRAMP You havent seen 30,000 this season in your flat pack sheep dip your 42 million in the black stuff gates are down by 5,000 all the mobiles have gone, NLN has lost the plot having to field school kids as they will play for a fiver a week Acne Hughes wanted by Barca to help clean Messi's boots, and the Yanks dipping their hands in the pot to purchase more hotdog stalls and icecream vans back in the states, what a joke of a club its no wonder you have done nothing for four seasons for you to finish half way is like winning the Champions League.
NLN's team all kids who play for a quid.